Squirrel attack: Mom gets photos of selfie gone wrong

A squirrel clings to the back of Brian Genest at John Chestnut Park near Tampa, Florida. (Paula Wright)

AUBURN, Maine -- A Maine teenager is flustered but not hurt after a photo op with a squirrel went awry.

Seventeen-year-old Brian Genest, of Auburn, said Thursday he saw what appeared to be a friendly squirrel on a hand rail while walking through John Chestnut Park near Tampa, Florida. He was on a trip looking at colleges.

Genest took a "selfie" of himself and the squirrel, but the flash and noises from his camera phone scared the animal, which climbed under the teen's shirt and hung onto his back.

"He was just in that spot where my arm can't reach him," Genest said. "I threw myself on the ground and that scared him off."

Genest's mother, Paula Wright, snapped photos of the hoopla, which were originally posted to her son's Instagram feed along with his selfie.

Before the attack: A squirrel approaches Brian Genest as he takes a photo of himself.
(Brian Genest)

Genest had approached the squirrel making clicking sounds with his tongue to get closer. His mother said the spectacle Saturday taught him a lesson.

"I think he got a little lesson from the squirrel that he's not really its buddy," she said.